Rating: 
Summary: The BEST!
Review: "Howl's Moving Castle" is the best Diana Wynne Jones book I've read. She is one of my all time favorite fantasy writers. I have about 10 of her books, and I'm building up my collection. "Howl's Moving Castle" is about Sophie Hatter, the eldest daughter of three. When her father dies, her step-mother sends the other two daughters, Lettie and Martha, to be apprenticed. Sophie stays home, to help in the hat shop. (her father was a hatter) One day, Sophie is selling hats, and the Witch of the Waste comes in. The Witch of the Waste is a terrifying old witch who lived in the Waste, a huge desert. Sophie offers her hats, but the witch is not pleased. She turns Sophie into an old lady.
Sophie does not want her mother and sisters to see her as an old lady, and she was getting tired of her life in the hat shop. She sets out to seek her fortune, and finds plenty of excitement. She finds the castle of the Wizard Howl, a wizard with a BAD reputation. She first meets his apprentice, Michael. She also meets Calcifer, Howl's fire demon. Calcifer tells her that he and Howl had a contract, and asks her to break it: it was not good for him or for Howl. However, Calcifer can not tell Sophie what the contract is. In exchange, Calcifer will try to break the spell on Sophie. Sophie becomes Howl's cleaning lady as an excuse to find out about the contract. She meets Howl, a funny, lazy, "slither-outer" wizard. She gradually comes to enjoy her life in the castle, despite her exasperation with Howl, which is hilarious.
I don't want to tell everyone the ending, but I'll drop some hints for the curious. Sophie finds that Howl isn't the only one with magic, learns about the contract, and eventually confronts the Witch of the Waste head on. "Howl's Moving Castle" is one of the best books I've ever read. I lent it to all of my friends, and they all loved it too. I've read it again and again, and I still find it interesting and funny every single time. If you like the book, it has a sequel, which is called "The Castle in the Air". It isn't as good as "Howl's Moving Castle," but it's still a fairly good book. Another book that is just as good as "Howl's Moving Castle" is "Dark Lord of Derkholm" by Diana Wynne Jones, and its sequel, "Year of the Griffin". Diana Wynne Jones is the greatest fantasy writer. I LOOOOOOOOVE her books! You have to get them!
Rating:
Summary: A Must-Read
Review: This book is absolutely fantastic! I read it after feeling depressed about having finished all of the author's Chrestomanci series, and it cheered me up. Sophie Hatter worked in her parents' hat shop in the small town of Market Chipping in a fantasy world. Her whole life revolved around her fears of the notorious Witch of the Waste and Wizard Howl, and her fear of failing because she is the eldest of three sisters. Then, the Witch of the Waste came into the hat shop and turned Sophie from a pretty young woman into an old lady. Feeling she had nothing to lose, Sophie goes to work as a cleaning lady in Howl's moving castle. There she meets Howl's apprentice, Michael, and his fire demon, Calcifer. Calcifer realizes that Sophie is under a spell, and offers to break it if she could break his contract with Howl. Sophie soon discovers that Howl, although vain and selfish, isn't evil, and is actually fighting against the Witch of the Waste. It all rolls together to make a wildly entertaining story. The plot, which basically defies classic fairy tale motif, is one of the most original, fresh stories out there. The characters are intelligent, funny, and uniquely memorable. Anybody who hasn't read this book yet should. It's highly reccomended for the advanced young reader craving a story that's more on their level of thinking and wondering than other books.
Rating: 
Summary: Some of the paragraphs in this book doesn't flow....
Review: The reason why I wanted to read this book is because Hayao Miyazaki is going to turn Howl's Moving Castle into an anime movie. And Hayao Miyazaki is a genius when it comes to animation. He surpasses Walt Disney in imagination in his animation. Howl's Moving Castle is great by all means, the story is wonderful, the characters are very well developed, and there are some twists and turns that are just hilarious when it does happen. This is a book where you can root for the characters. The one flaw I found reading this book is the author's inability to flow one paragraph to another. There is a 60% execution rate where the author can link one paragraph to another. But sometimes the author has problems. For example, when I was reading the book, (I'll try to avoid giving out spoilers) there was some parts where nothing much happens or the story is very slow, then all of a sudden it takes a turn where you say, "What just happened, that paragraph doesn't correlate at all to the previous paragraph of the story, It doesnt even match." So most of the time, you wonder to yourself, what is going on, I'm lost, I'm confused. Another flaw I found is that the author tried to rush the story. The story felt rushed, especially during the end. I kept reading the book, and all of a sudden I finished reading the book, and I wondered to myself, what happened to the climax. I somewhat read it, is that it? Is that the climax? Some people will argue, the best way to understand some of the stuff I missed is to read it over again. Let me tell those people that a good book can explain it all clearly in one read-through. The only people that would read it twice or 3 times or more are the people that really loved the book. In the end, Hayao Miyazaki will convert this book into something else. He turns books that have a lot of flaws into animated movies that are 100 times better than the book.
Rating:
Summary: Wizards, Witches, and Fire Demons
Review: 'Howl's Moving Castle' by: Diana Wynne Jones Would you like to read a book with wizards, witches, spells, and fire demons? Well 'Howl's Moving Castle' is about all these things. Sophie a young girl gets turned into an old lady by the Witch of the Waste. The Witch of the Waste is an evil witch, which causes a lot of fear. Sophie lives in town called Market Chipping, she thinks that as being the eldest of three sisters she is going to turn out to be a failure in life. So as an old lady she goes to Howl's Castle in seek of adventure. Howl is known to be a wizard that eats young girl's souls. Sophie tries to stay in Howl's Castle by being the cleaning lady.
While in the castle she meets a fire demon, and the wizard that sends fear into young girls Howl.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite book of all time!
Review: Too bad I can only give 5 stars to Howl's Moving Castle; it deserves far more. I'm a voracious reader, with 20 or 30 shelves full of books, and Howl's Moving Castle is my favorite of all of them. What makes it so great? For starters, the vivid characters are wonderful. They have such strong personalities that they almost become caricatures, but then Ms. Jones tosses in a little detail that makes them human. I especially love Howl, the outrageously foppish, over-dramatic, slitherer-outer of a wizard. Another thing that is wonderful about Howl's Moving Castle is all the tiny references to fairy-tale conventions, other works, the modern world (specifically in Wales), and even old poetry. A third thing to love about Howl's Moving Castle is the sheer amount of levels. I would estimate that I've read it 50 or 60 times, and I always catch something new each time I read it. It's hilarious and sweet. Even fantasy-haters that I made read this book loved it. It's seriously for everyone. I love Howl's Moving Castle; now the wait is on for the 2004 or 2005 animated movie by world-famous animation studio Studio Ghibli!
Rating:
Summary: Exciting Adventure
Review: Howl's Moving Castle is an excellent fantasy story. It deals with Sophie, the oldest of three sisters. She believes, as the oldest of the three, she is doomed to a bad fate. One day her father, a hat seller, dies and leaves the girls with their step-mother. The youngest goes to live with a witch to learn magic. The second sister goes to work at a bakery. Sophie is stuck with the hat shop. One day, an evil witch, the Witch of the Waste, comes in and without explanation turns Sophie into an old woman. Sophie decides to leave the hat shop and find her own destiny. After leaving the town, she runs into a huge moving castle. This castle belongs to Wizard Howl who is know to steal the souls and eat the hearts of young girls. Believing herself to be too old for Howl's morbid tastes, she decides to enter the castle. Perhaps Wizard Howl can lift the spell she is under. This begins Sophie's adventure. For fans of fantasy, this is an excellent book. Diana Wynne Jones is an excellent storyteller. Also, for fans of Japanese animation, Hayao Miyazaki's next film will be based on this book. Be sure to read this before watching the movie. I'm sure you'll love reading it as much as I did.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for anyone that can read!
Review: The first book I read by Diana Wynne Jones was 'Dogsbody'. I picked it up at a local bookstore, thinking it sounded "okay". This was a HUGE understatement. Immediately when I was finished,I logged on to "amazon" serching for more of her books. When I began 'Howl's Moving Castle', I thought,"oh boy, a story about the eldest child of three. wow, she sells hats,how exciting. This book doesn't hold a candle to 'Dogsbody'." I've never been more wrong in my life!! A day or so later, you couldn't pry me away from this book with a crowbar! The characters are all so different, it gives the story a wonderous flair. It is about Sophie, the eldest child, who is cursed by the Witch of the Waste. She enters the moving castle, meeting a slightly timid apprentice, the powerful sorcerer Howl, and, my favorite character, Calcifer a fire demon. Many other characters enter the story, but I will not give away another word of the story. IF YOU ONLY READ ONE PART OF MY REVIEW, READ THIS: HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE HAS BUMPED ITS WAY TO MY FAVORITE BOOK OF ALL TIME!!ON A SCALE OF ONE TO TEN, IT DESERVES A TWENTY!!
Rating: 
Summary: Howl's Moving Castle
Review: Could you ever imagine a world of magic, talking fire, wizards, moving castles, witches and much, much more? Well, if you can't imagine that you should read this book. It has magic, talking fire (hard to believe), wizards, moving castles, and witches. This book is called Howl's Moving Castle and Diana Wynne Jones is responsible for writing this book.
This book is mainly about Sophie getting to be young and Calfifer being free. Sophie wants to be young again because The Witch of the Waste was not pleased with the bonnet that she wanted and turned Sophie into an old lady. Sophie goes to a moving castle and pretends to be a maid. In the castle she finds a young wizard in his twenties, his name is Howl. Sophie also spots a fire demon, Calcifer. Calcifer and Sophie promise each other that Sophie would break his contract and free him. Calcifer promises Sophie that he will change her back.
*I you want to find out if Sophie breaks the spell, you should read this book. I won't give away the ending, but in the end there is a lot of people apologizing and asking to be their wife or girlfriend.
Rating:
Summary: Absurdly Wonderful
Review: Hold on a second while I tie my gaping-in-awe-and-amazement mouth shut. Howl's Moving Castle is by far the best book I have read of Diana Wynne Jones. Though it may lack the depth of books such as Dark Lord of Derkholm or the intricasies of plot as Hexwood, this book is an absolute blast to read. This book that so obviously ridicules fairy tales had me in stitches. Sophie's stubbornness and Howl's mockery of Prince Charming among other things made me love them. And who could forget such a notorious character as Calcifur who reminds me of a pouty child but endears himself to you nonetheless. Incredibly surprising and absurdly wonderful, I will love this book forever.
Rating:
Summary: A throughly charming read!
Review: This is such a charming little book. I purposely didn't read the back blurb and as such wasn't sure what to expect when I began the book (just had some vague memory of positive comments about the story) and I was continually surprised by the plot twists and turns. It's been far too long since I've read something that was pleasant through and through. I enjoyed Sophie's go with the flow attitude (can't say as I'd be nearly as accepting and pleasant as she initially was with her transformation!) and her quirky sense of humor. Howl, the cad, was a great character. Very selfish and self-centered and almost childishly funny at times, he managed to worm his way into my good graces by giving Michael & Sophie a home without conditions or questions.
|
